Wow… Insensitive to coal miners? What’s next? Shutting down all of the clown themed haunts because they portray all clowns as evil and sadistic? Seriously, between the Bill and Ted shutdown at Universal Hollywood and now this, it seems that the parks are going to bend to anyone being the least bit offended and close down the attraction in question.

I’m not a huge haunted house fan, but I really hate to see this. And I really hate to use the old “just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean everyone else shouldn’t like it” cliché, but it definitely applies here. Halloween Haunts are supposed to be offensive. Most of them have severed body parts, blood, disfigured characters, and crazy (oops, I mean, mentally unstable) people chasing guests with chainsaws and other power tools. If you take out the scenes that offend people, you’re going to be left with nothing but a pitch black haunt… which will probably somehow end up being offensive to blind people.

I do understand the other side of things, but really, this is going a bit too far. Just my two cents.

Oh, and just one more thing. Black Diamond at Knoebels is a “haunted coal mine”. Should they be forced to change the theme because it is also insensitive to people in the area who worked in the Centralia coal mines? Jeez.

When I went through it on the 13th as part of the ACE event, we were first in line so we got to take our time through it. It initially went through my mind that they were utilizing a stereotype to provide scares, but then I thought about it more and realized that most, if any, haunted attraction banks on the age old myth that mentally unstable people are homicidal. I work for a mental health organization that promotes better understanding about mental health issues HOWEVER I do not have a problem with the approach parks take on haunted attractions, nor did I have a problem with this particular maze. I realize that entertainment is built upon what we have built in society, right or wrong, and so people have to take it with a grain of salt. The individuals of this petition have all the right to complain -- it's up to Kings Dominion to make the decision. They could have stood their ground and I wouldn't have hated them for it. In my opinion, it's a grey issue that unfortunately played out the way it did.